In the West Virginia mountains, a Heisler geared logging locomotive pulls an excursion train along the remote Greenbrier river. But that will change soon, and Eric Miller writes about the Last Summer before the Durbin Rocket changes forever.

http://thetracksidephotographer.com/202 ... st-summer/

Edd Fuller, Editor
The Trackside Photographer
http://thetracksidephotographer.com/

The question I have is whether we should gear up (no pun intended) to celebrate the possibilities of the future as well as recognize the passing of an era.

How long will the 'revised' round trip from Cass to Durbin be, and what attractions are along that way?

Cass is roughly milepost 81 of the Greenbrier Subdivision and Durbin is roughly milepost 95.

Scenery should be fairly similar to the existing Durbin Rocket since, well, the railroad follows the river the whole way.

While the very quaint atmosphere of the Durbin excursion will certainly be missed, the operation and equipment will likely benefit all around from being based out of Cass... the Heisler is not able to even fit into the engine shed in Durbin (it was built for the Climax).

2 hours to do a 5.5 out and back run. Yep, that's a geared loco, LOL.

I guess I'm out of the loop, what happened to the Climax?

Needs its 1472. That's why Cass loaned them the Heisler.

The little 55-ton Climax which came from Durbin, always operated under a State Boiler Certificate, since the Durbin line has been insular. Once connected to the Cass Scenic Railroad, the engine would need an FRA Form 4 to operate. I have no idea what the shop's priorities are at the Cass Scenic Railroad, but it would at least appear that the Buffalo Creek and Gauley Consolidation will probably be worked on before the little 2-Truck Climax, because it was acquired specifically for the run from Cass to Durbin.



Honestly, other than intermittent views of the river, and a couple of small hamlets, there's not much between Cass and Durbin. It is pretty much wilderness. The track is not right on the river's edge much of the way. The keys to making it successful as a tourist line would be significant brush-cutting and maintenance, to improve and maintain the river views that do exist, and fostering some business activity, such as restaurants, in downtown Durbin, to make it an attractive place to lay over.

/Kevin Madore

The 55 Ton Climax SN 1059 needs more than a 1472. The gossip in Cass was that Wasatch did some work on 1059 that was not up to code - patching and welding an area of the boiler not covered by stay bolts and therefore out of Code - even WV State Code.

The WV inspector (not named) rejected the repair but was overruled by higher ups and therefore retired as he was old enough and in protest. After that 1059 was limited to a BP of 100 psi.

It will need a whole new boiler if what I was told is correct.

Note: I am reporting the gossip so do not take it as a given, although some additional details of which I am aware also seem to me to make it credible.

I am excited to see the progress and the line when it opens. I'm guessing that 2-8-0 will still take a couple years at least to get finished, so I guess the Heisler will still do the runs until the Consolidation is ready.

I'm also hopefully that the 2-Truck Climax gets its 1,472, but I'm guessing that finishing up #6 is their highest priority and then the Consolidation will probably be their next priority. Once Big 6 is finished, really the only two projects I'm aware of is the 2-8-0 and the 2-Truck Climax, unless they're restoring another Shay that we're unaware of, but I don't see them needing a sixth Shay. The only one that could realistically be restored anyways is the Cass #3 if memory serves.

Isn't more work needed to "finish" the 3 truck climax? It's not been used in 2022 right?

The 3-Truck Climax (Cass #9) was fired up for the steam parade in 2022 alongside the 4 Shays. I don’t know if it’s ever really been used for their trains though. I was told compared to the Shays and the Heisler it didn’t really perform that well for the Cass to Whittaker run so they don’t really use it all that much. If that’s true it would probably be a good candidate for the new Cass to Durbin line, although that may “doom” the 2-Truck Climax if it really has all the issues other posters have suggested.

Unrelated, I only recently found there’s a second 3-Truck Heisler somewhere in Durbin, I’m assuming in a shed, though I doubt any works being done to it.

Cass and Durbin have both done great jobs restoring and maintaining their steam equipment. For the ones talking about restoration projects and 1,472s, there's a pretty limited amount of locomotives left that can really be restored. Cass has three Shays (#7, #10 and the ex-Brimstone) that are either disassembled/used for parts. I believe the boilers for all three are still around, but it wouldn't be realistic to restore the locomotives as a whole.

Between Cass AND Durbin, there's plenty of power for the Cass to Durbin line, but I think the 2-8-0 is a good project and I look forward to seeing it run, though I'll miss the classic Durbin Rocket. Come to think of it now, there's really only three locomotives left between both Cass and Durbin that need a 1,472 or restoration.

1. The 2-8-0 Consolidation has already been somewhat started and will be a good fit for the Cass to Durbin line.

2. The 2-Truck Climax #3 needs the 1,472. I don't know if the rumors are true, but since the Heisler is on loan, I'd argue Durbin will eventually do the overhaul on the #3 to have their own running locomotive again.

3. The Shay #3 at Cass that's labeled as "display" is the odd one out. Compared to the 3 parts Shays, it's in pretty good shape, though I don't know what the boiler's condition is. Once the 2-8-0 is done, that's really the only locomotive left aside from maintaining their running fleet. But they have 5 shays already running, so whether or not that'll stop a #3 restoration remains to be seen.

The two truck Climax did operate under state boiler jurisdiction, not FRA. As far as I know it has never had a Form 4 or original boiler survey. The contractor did do incorrect work on the boiler, and thus the boiler needs significant repair. I don't know what other running gear work it may need.


Cass and Durbin are under the same (operational/mechanical) ownership now.

Yes, it is my understanding that Climax #3 has never held a Form 4. When I last saw it in the Cass yard in 2021, it was tarped over and had been for several years....probably since 2016 or 2017. With so much larger power available in the Cass stable, I don't expect this locomotive to be restored anytime soon. Besides, Climaxes are not great riders and they're slow. The big advantage the Climax had when the Durbin Rocket was first established was that Climaxes can run on some pretty bad track, and back in the beginning, the track on the Durbin line was definitely "Climax track."

It is also my understanding that the Cass Scenic Railroad is still a West Virginia State Park and the locomotives that were from the original Cass stable are still owned by the state. The Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, is the "operator" employed by the state to run the park's railroad. So in that respect, YES, the maintenance of both the DGVRR assets and the state assets are being done by the same people now.

/Kevin Madore

This is true. It's Middle Fork RR Heisler #7. It's a big 80t 3 trucker in kit form and it's located near the depot in Durbin.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160628155 ... 7-cole.jpg